LONDON (Reuters):

Britain's governing Labour Party received a boost yesterday as an opinion poll showed the party was catching up with the opposition Conservatives after Prime Minister Tony Blair announced he would resign in June.

The Populus poll in the Times newspaper also had good news for Gordon Brown - hot favourite to replace Blair as Labour leader and Britain's new prime minister - finding that he was rated more highly than Conservative leader David Cameron.

Support for Labour was up four points from a month ago at 33 per cent, while support for the Conservatives was unchanged at 37 per cent, according to the survey.

The smaller opposition Liberal Democrats were backed by 17 per cent of those quizzed - a three-point slide from April.